KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine launched one of the biggest drone attacks on the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula since the full-scale war that started with Russia’s invasion 21 months ago, Russian officials said Friday. They did not mention any casualties or damage.

At the same time, Ukrainian officials reported that the Kremlin’s forces escalated their weekslong and costly attempt to storm Avdiivka, a strategically important city in eastern Ukraine.

The stepped-up efforts came as both sides are keen to show they are not deadlocked as the fighting approaches 2024. Neither side has gained much ground despite a Ukrainian counteroffensive that began in June, and analysts predict the war will be a long one.

With winter weather setting in, bringing snow and freezing temperatures to the battlefield, Ukraine and Russia are looking to take ground that could provide platforms for future advances.

The Moscow-appointed governor for the Russian-occupied part of southern Ukraine’s Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, said Ukraine launched a major drone attack on Crimea early Friday. He claimed that dozens of drones were shot down over the province and the northern part of Crimea.

Russia annexed the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, a move that most of the world considered illegal, and has used it as a staging and supply point during the war.

The Russian Defense Ministry said air defenses downed 13 Ukrainian drones over Crimea and three more over southern Russia’s Volgograd region.

Ukrainian officials did not comment on the Russian reports.

It was not possible to independently verify either side’s battlefield claims.

Russia has been trying to capture Avdiivka since Oct. 10, using heavy bombardments and reportedly taking heavy losses. The city lies in the northern suburbs of Donetsk, a city in a region of the same name that Russian forces partially occupy. Avdiivka’s location grants Ukrainian forces artillery advantages over the city and could serve as a springboard for them to liberate Donetsk.

Netherlands election: A senator from the Netherlands’ Party for Freedom was appointed Friday to investigate possible governing coalitions after the far-right party’s election victory, while the party of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte said it would support a center-right administration in parliament but not join the next government.

The Party for Freedom, or PVV, led by veteran anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders, won 37 seats in the 150-seat lower house, indicating a seismic shift to the right for the Netherlands. Rutte’s People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy won 24 seats, 10 fewer than in the previous election, according to a nearly complete count of Wednesday’s votes.

After a meeting of party leaders at the parliament, PVV Sen. Gom van Strien was appointed to investigate possible coalitions. Newly elected lawmakers will debate his findings on. 6.

The election result and appointment of Van Strien pave the way for Wilders to take the lead in forming a new coalition and potentially to succeed Rutte as prime minister. However, he will likely have to convince potential coalition partners that he would tone down some of his anti-Islam policies.

His party’s election platform states that the Netherlands “is not an Islamic country. No Islamic schools, Qurans and mosques.”

Combs accused by 2 more: Two more women have come forward to accuse Sean “Diddy” Combs of sexual abuse, one week after the music mogul settled a separate lawsuit with the singer Cassie that contained allegations of rape and physical abuse.

Both new suits were filed Thursday on the eve of the expiration of the Adult Survivors Act, a New York law permitting victims of sexual abuse a one-year window to file civil action regardless of the statute of limitations.

The filings detail acts of sexual assault, beatings and forced drugging allegedly committed in the early 1990s by Combs, then a talent director, party promoter and rising figure in New York City’s hip-hop community.

Ex-aide accuses Cuomo: Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is being sued by a former aide who says Cuomo sexually harassed her while he was still in office.

Cuomo’s former executive assistant Brittany Commisso filed the case against the ex-governor Wednesday in state Supreme Court in Albany. The filing, a three-page summons, came just before the expiration for lawsuits under New York’s Adult Survivors Act.

Commisso was one of at least 11 women who accused Cuomo of sexual misconduct, leading to his abrupt 2021 resignation in a #MeToo-era scandal that marked a severe fall from grace for the Democrat.

He has denied the allegations.

Commisso’s allegations led to a criminal charge against Cuomo that was eventually dismissed last year at the request of a county prosecutor who described her as credible but said he couldn’t prove the case.

Hall sues Oates: Daryl Hall has sued his longtime musical partner John Oates, arguing that his plan to sell off his share of a joint venture would violate the terms of a business agreement the Hall & Oates duo had forged.

The move quickly prompted a judge to temporarily block the sale while legal proceedings and a previously initiated arbitration continue.

A Nashville, Tennessee, chancery court judge issued the temporary restraining order Nov. 16, writing that Oates and others involved in his trust can’t move to close the sale of their share of Whole Oats Enterprises LLP to Primary Wave IP Investment Management LLC until an arbitrator in a separately filed case weighs in on the deal, or until the judge’s order expires — typically within 15 days, unless a judge extends the deadline.

Although the publicly released version of the lawsuit didn’t specify what’s at stake in the sale, Primary Wave has already owned “significant interest” in Hall and Oates’ song catalog for more than 15 years.

India tunnel collapse: Rescue teams trying to reach 41 construction workers trapped in a collapsed tunnel in northern India for nearly two weeks stopped drilling again Friday after their boring machine hit a new metal obstruction in rock debris, further delaying efforts.

The construction workers have been trapped since Nov. 12, when a landslide caused a portion of the 2.8-mile tunnel they were building to collapse about 650 feet from the entrance.

Authorities have supplied the workers with hot meals of rice and lentils through a 6-inch pipe after days of surviving on dry food sent through a narrower pipe. Oxygen is being supplied through a separate pipe.